10 Times The Simpsons Warned Us About The Future

I've always believed that there was a crystal ball in The Simpsons writer's room. The show has become known for eerily accurate predictions about the future on almost two dozen ocassions, some right on the nose and others a little less so. After Disney's landmark purchase of most of 21 Centruy Fox's assets last week, I decided that I'd had enough.

Disney announces it has reached a deal to acquire 21st Century Fox, as predicted by a Simpsons episode that first aired on November 8, 1998. pic.twitter.com/kzloJQHeM8

I needed to dig into the show's past myself and see exactly how meticulous their predictions have been. I picked out 10 of the best and am now hoping that Elon Musk isn't really drifting in a space station orbiting the planet right now.

1. Trump as president ("Bart To The Future", 2000)

Bart gets a peek into the future when he and the family visit a Native American casino. Eventually, we learn that Lisa becomes President Elect and that her predecessor is a certain walking cheeto. A full 16 years before he was elected.

2. Soccer scandal ("You Don't Have To Live Like A Referee", 2014)

Homer takes up reffing soccer for the second time in the series, and refuses several bribes in an attempt to stay Lisa's hero when she cites him in a school essay. He eventually starts taking the bribes when Bart reveals that Homer wasn't Lisa's first choice. Just over a year later in May 2015, several FIFA referees were arrested in a scandal involving over $150 million in bribes from players. Spooky.

3. Mutant tomatoes ("E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)", 1999)

All it took was a plutonium rod and some wayward seeds for Homer to create Tomacco, the mutant hybrid between tomatoes and tobacco. In 2013, mutated tomatoes started growing in the area surrounding a Japanese nuclear power plant.

4. McCain voting rigged ("Treehouse of Horror XIX", 2008)

The beginning of this Treehouse of Horror sees Homer trying to vote for President Barack Obama, but the machine is rigged for rival John McCain. McCain's campaign faced accusations of voter fraud in 2008, but a faulty voting machine would actually change votes for Obama to votes for then-rival Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential election.

5. Hamburger earmuffs ("The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", 1998)

On the road to become a successful inventor like Thomas Edison, Homer suggests hamburger earmuffs when bouncing ideas off of Professor Frink. Little does he know, Frink already has hamburger earmuffs ready to go. We haven't quite reached wearable food in modern society, but that doesn't mean there aren't tons of fake hamburger earmuffs to go around.

Siegfried and Roy parodies Gunter and Ernst are attacked by their pet tiger while performing at Springfield's new casino. About a decade later, the real Roy Horn was attacked by their 7-year-old tiger Montecore. Creators addressed the future-telling in a DVD commentary, where they said that the attack "was bound to happen sooner or later."

7. Late Ringo fan responses ("Brush With Greatness", 1991)

Marge used to paint portraits of her idol Ringo Starr when she was in high school. In "Brush With Greatness," it's revealed that he also takes decades to answer fan mail. On top of Starr making a video telling his fans to stop sending him fan mail to autograph, fellow Beatle Sir Paul McCartney responded to fans who'd sent him a tape 50 years prior with a "better late than never."

8. Robot librarians ("Lisa's Wedding", 1995)

In the show's first future episode from, Lisa goes to a university where robots work (and short-circuit, if they cry) in libraries and as servants around houses. In 2011, a college in Chicago had a robot stacking books on shelves in their library.

9. Stolen lemon tree ("Lemon of Troy", 1995)

The entirety of season 6's "Lemon of Troy" focuses around Springfield's lemon tree being stolen. A small neighborhood in Houston, TX had the exact same problem in 2013.

Right before Seymour Skinner is fired as principal of Springfiel Elementary School, it's revealed that there's traces of horse meat in the school cafeteria. Restaurants in the UK - including Taco Bell and Bird's Eye - were accused of having traces of horsemeat in their beef back in 2013.